CGS-authored
Over the next few generations, the use of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) may become as common as amniocentesis, predicted David Adamson, a California reproductive endocrinologist and president-elect of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.
PGD could allow scientists to screen out diseases that run in a family -- such as breast cancer and Alzheimer's -- to ensure a healthy embryo, extending life spans to 90, Adamson said.
One bioethicist has coined a term for choosing the "best" embryo -- procreative beneficence -- suggesting that if a couple has the ability to produce the healthiest child, they have a moral obligation to do so.
"This is a technology that's going to redefine the next 100 years. It's going to determine how babies are born, and how we recreate ourselves," Adamson said.
Technique's use evolving
While PGD was originally meant to avoid life-threatening hereditary childhood diseases, some parents already are choosing embryos based on diseases that could develop much later in life, such as breast cancer. PGD also is now being used to avoid afflictions that aren't fatal, such as an eye-condition...
PGD could allow scientists to screen out diseases that run in a family -- such as breast cancer and Alzheimer's -- to ensure a healthy embryo, extending life spans to 90, Adamson said.
One bioethicist has coined a term for choosing the "best" embryo -- procreative beneficence -- suggesting that if a couple has the ability to produce the healthiest child, they have a moral obligation to do so.
"This is a technology that's going to redefine the next 100 years. It's going to determine how babies are born, and how we recreate ourselves," Adamson said.
Technique's use evolving
While PGD was originally meant to avoid life-threatening hereditary childhood diseases, some parents already are choosing embryos based on diseases that could develop much later in life, such as breast cancer. PGD also is now being used to avoid afflictions that aren't fatal, such as an eye-condition...
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